Boston bomb suspect died of gunshots, blunt trauma

FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2010, photo, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, left, smiles after accepting the trophy for winning the 2010 New England Golden Gloves Championship in Lowell, Mass. Tsarnaev, the older of the brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombing, died from gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and torso, his death certificate says. (AP Photo/The Lowell Sun, Julia Malakie, File) MANDATORY CREDIT
— AP

FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2010, photo, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, left, smiles after accepting the trophy for winning the 2010 New England Golden Gloves Championship in Lowell, Mass. Tsarnaev, the older of the brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombing, died from gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and torso, his death certificate says. (AP Photo/The Lowell Sun, Julia Malakie, File) MANDATORY CREDIT
/ AP

FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows the two brothers the FBI initially said were suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday, April 15, 2013, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a gunfight with police several days later, while Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was captured and lies in a hospital prison. Three more suspects have been taken into custody in the marathon bombings, police said Wednesday, May 1, 2013. (AP Photo/The Low— AP

FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows the two brothers the FBI initially said were suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday, April 15, 2013, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a gunfight with police several days later, while Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was captured and lies in a hospital prison. Three more suspects have been taken into custody in the marathon bombings, police said Wednesday, May 1, 2013. (AP Photo/The Low
/ AP

FILE - This Nov. 2, 2012 file photo shows, from left, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith perform on NBC's "Today" show in New York. Aerosmith, James Taylor, and Jimmy Buffett are among the scheduled performers for a Boston Marathon benefit concert May 30. The show, at the TD Garden, will benefit One Fund _ the collection of donations that will be distributed to the survivors of the April 15 bombings and the families of those killed in the attack. (Photo by Char— Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

FILE - This Nov. 2, 2012 file photo shows, from left, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith perform on NBC's "Today" show in New York. Aerosmith, James Taylor, and Jimmy Buffett are among the scheduled performers for a Boston Marathon benefit concert May 30. The show, at the TD Garden, will benefit One Fund _ the collection of donations that will be distributed to the survivors of the April 15 bombings and the families of those killed in the attack. (Photo by Char
/ Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

FILE - This Oct. 21, 2012 file photo shows James Taylor at the Country Music Hall of Fame Inductions in Nashville, Tenn. Aerosmith, James Taylor, and Jimmy Buffett are among the scheduled performers for a Boston Marathon benefit concert May 30. The show, at the TD Garden, will benefit One Fund _ the collection of donations that will be distributed to the survivors of the April 15 bombings and the families of those killed in the attack. (Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP, file)— Wade Payne/Invision/AP

FILE - This Oct. 21, 2012 file photo shows James Taylor at the Country Music Hall of Fame Inductions in Nashville, Tenn. Aerosmith, James Taylor, and Jimmy Buffett are among the scheduled performers for a Boston Marathon benefit concert May 30. The show, at the TD Garden, will benefit One Fund _ the collection of donations that will be distributed to the survivors of the April 15 bombings and the families of those killed in the attack. (Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP, file)
/ Wade Payne/Invision/AP

FILE - This May 8, 2009 file photo shows members of New Kids on the Block, from left, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, and Danny Wood on the NBC "Today" television program in New York. The New Kids on the Block, Aerosmith, James Taylor, and Jimmy Buffett are among the scheduled performers for a Boston Marathon benefit concert May 30. The show, at the TD Garden, will benefit One Fund _ the collection of donations that will be distributed to the survivors of the Apri— AP

FILE - This May 8, 2009 file photo shows members of New Kids on the Block, from left, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, and Danny Wood on the NBC "Today" television program in New York. The New Kids on the Block, Aerosmith, James Taylor, and Jimmy Buffett are among the scheduled performers for a Boston Marathon benefit concert May 30. The show, at the TD Garden, will benefit One Fund _ the collection of donations that will be distributed to the survivors of the Apri
/ AP

Massachusetts State Police walk out of the woods of The Smith Neck Farm in Dartmouth, Mass. on Friday, May 3, 2013 as federal, state and local authorities on Friday searched the woods near the UMass-Dartmouth campus as part of the marathon investigation. (AP Photo/The Standard-Times, John Sladewski)— AP

Massachusetts State Police walk out of the woods of The Smith Neck Farm in Dartmouth, Mass. on Friday, May 3, 2013 as federal, state and local authorities on Friday searched the woods near the UMass-Dartmouth campus as part of the marathon investigation. (AP Photo/The Standard-Times, John Sladewski)
/ AP

Peter Stefan, funeral director and owner of Graham, Putnam and Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester, Mass., sits in one of the facility's rooms Friday, May 3, 2013. Stefan confirmed his funeral home will handle funeral arrangements for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, but did not say whether he had possession of the body. (AP Photo/The Telegram & Gazette, Chris Christo)— AP

Peter Stefan, funeral director and owner of Graham, Putnam and Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester, Mass., sits in one of the facility's rooms Friday, May 3, 2013. Stefan confirmed his funeral home will handle funeral arrangements for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, but did not say whether he had possession of the body. (AP Photo/The Telegram & Gazette, Chris Christo)
/ AP

BOSTON 
A suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings died from gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and torso, a funeral director said Friday.

Worcester funeral home owner Peter Stefan has 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body and read details from his death certificate. The certificate cites Tsarnaev's "gunshot wounds of torso and extremities" and lists the time of his death as 1:35 a.m. on April 19, four days after the deadly bombing, Stefan said.

Tsarnaev died after a gunfight with authorities who had launched a massive manhunt for him and his brother, ethnic Chechens from Russia who came to the United States about a decade ago. Police have said he ran out of ammunition before his younger brother dragged his body under a vehicle while fleeing.

Tsarnaev's family on Friday was making arrangements for his funeral as investigators searched the woods near a college attended by 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was captured less than a day after his brother's death.

The funeral parlor in Worcester is familiar with Muslim services and said it will handle arrangements for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, whose body was released by the state medical examiner Thursday.

The body initially was taken to a North Attleborough funeral home, where it was greeted by about 20 protesters. Stefan, owner of Graham Putnam and Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester, an hour's drive west of Boston, said everybody deserves a dignified burial service no matter the circumstances of his or her death and he is prepared for protests.

"My problem here is trying to find a gravesite. A lot of people don't want to do it. They don't want to be involved with this," said Stefan, who said dozens of protesters gathered outside his funeral home, upset with his decision to handle the funeral. "I keep bringing up the point of Lee Harvey Oswald, Timothy McVeigh or Ted Bundy. Somebody had to do those, too."

Meanwhile, two U.S. officials said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told interrogators that he and his brother initially considered setting off their bombs on July Fourth.

Boston police said they planned to review security procedures for the Independence Day Boston Pops concert and fireworks display, which draws a crowd of more than 500,000 annually and is broadcast to a national TV audience. Authorities plan to look at security procedures for large events held in other cities, notably the massive New Year's Eve celebration held each year in New York City's Times Square, Massachusetts state police spokesman David Procopio said.

Gov. Deval Patrick said everything possible will be done to assure a safe event.

"I think the most important thing is that we got them, and there's investigation continuing about where the other leads may lead," he said. "I can tell you, having been thoroughly briefed, that the law enforcement at every level is pursuing everything."

As part of the bombing investigation, federal, state and local authorities were searching the woods near the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a student. Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, could not say what investigators were looking for but said residents should know there is no threat to public safety.